


Clean Break

by PrincessCharming



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Baby, F/F, Family, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-06
Updated: 2013-03-06
Packaged: 2017-11-23 23:45:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/627854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessCharming/pseuds/PrincessCharming
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When 18 year old Emma Swan gets out of juvie she sets out to find the baby she gave up for adoption and make sure he's ok. She takes a job as a maid in the Mayor's house to get close to her son but she isn't expecting to fall in love with him … or his life. Pre-OUAT. SQ eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: Hi, this is my first fanfic. Please let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't own OUAT or the characters.

Emma Swan was good at finding people.

When she was 10 her foster brother disappeared from the front yard. The police search turned up nothing until Emma herself found the boy hiding in a drain clear across town two days later. She hadn't been able to explain to the police how she'd found the boy and her foster parents had been suspicious of her involvement. They'd sent her back to the group home after that.

When she was 17 she'd been sent to juvie where she'd taken computer courses ostensibly for "bettering herself" for a career when she got out. Instead, she'd secretly set up an online tracking service where people paid her (well) to trace the electronic trails of their cheating spouses and long lost relatives. She'd gotten away with it despite the watchful security - no one suspected the pregnant girl.

Her son was born at 2:17 on a Wednesday morning at the local hospital where she'd been given two days leave from the facility. She'd gotten to spend a precious two weeks with her baby boy while the adoption was still being processed. His presence made her rather popular back inside, though she hadn't bothered to form friendships previously. She'd wanted her son all to herself while she could, despite intending to sever all connection to him shortly. She'd tried not to get too attached, but it was impossible when his every cry and wiggle rent her heart. In the end she'd screwed up her resolve and signed him away, hoping to give him a better chance in life than she'd had. A better chance than she could give him.

"I'm just gonna make sure he's ok", Emma promised herself, gripping the steering wheel tighter as she navigated her yellow VW bug along a deserted Maine highway. Once she'd walked out of juvie, she'd turned her back on her old life of theft and scraping by, intending to start afresh even though she had nothing but a hippy car and a pocket full of cash. Finding out where her baby boy had been adopted to had been a piece of cake with her usual online tricks. Needing to see for herself that he would be fine had nagged at her constantly since he'd left her arms. She didn't want to take him back, nor even to meet him. Really. She just wanted to know that he'd ended up with a family who loved him.

"Storybrooke? You have got to be kidding me." Emma shook her head at the cutesy name.

The car's headlights floated over the town sign and she took a quick glance at the map resting on the passenger seat.

The next thing Emma knew she was waking up behind bars.

* * *

"I wasn't drunk." Emma raised an eyebrow, slouching against the bars of the holding cell.

"I know - I checked". The scruffy looking Sheriff with the strange accent turned the key in the lock and ushered her out like she was a date not a convict.

"But you did destroy our historic sign. An offense which carries a bit of a hefty price tag I'm afraid."

Lame, scoffed Emma inwardly. Apparently she'd spun out on the road, hit her head on the steering wheel and knocked over the stupid town sign. Batting her eyelashes hadn't convinced the Sheriff into letting it slide, so she'd thrown him a few hundreds with another sarcastic eyeroll for good measure just to get out of there.

Still wearing yesterday's clothes and desperate for caffeine, Emma quickly located a diner in the main street. She entered and sank gratefully into a booth in the back. A young woman with red-streaked hair a few years older than her (and wearing far fewer clothes) came over to take her order.

"Hi, I'm Ruby. Hot chocolate will just be a sec," the red-haired girl said, a little flirtatiously, before disappearing behind the counter.

Emma flipped open the file she'd compiled on her 'case' and scanned it for the millionth time. Baby boy, 3 weeks old, adopted by single mother Regina Mills, 32, Mayor of Storybrooke, Maine. Walking down the street, Emma had been comforted by the sight of Storybrooke in the daytime. It seemed like a quiet little town. Quaint to the point of being boring, but nice enough for raising a child. And safe.

Her hackles had been raised by the complete lack of information about the adoptive mother though. She'd obtained the original adoption application but all other paperwork had been curiously missing. The mother had no online records either - no birth certificate, no driver's licence in any other state, never had a bank account or loan, never flown interstate or overseas, never rented a property... the adoptive mother was completely off the grid.

This Regina Mills was, however, mayor of this ass-backwards little town. Surely a town official constantly in the public eye couldn't get away with too much, Emma reasoned. But she intended to find out for sure, even if she had to resort to spying, blackmail or bribery to do it.

"You're new here, aren't you?"

Emma quickly closed the file and looked up at a young woman with a black pixie cut, smiling openly at her from beside the booth.

"Oh, uh, no I'm just passing through." Emma pressed her lips together, hoping to end the conversation there.

"Ok, well, enjoy your stay. Storybrooke is lovely this time of year." Pixie Cut shrugged with a smile, looking a little disappointed at the brushoff.

Emma immediately felt guilty as the woman turned to go. "Wait. Why don't you sit with me."

Seeing Pixie Cut's face light up, Emma almost regretted the invitation afraid that she'd attracted the attention of the town loner and would never escape. The woman slid into the booth and meekly introduced herself as Mary Margaret Blanchard. (What the hell kinda name is that? thought Emma.) The waitress, Ruby, sauntered over with Emma's order and another hot chocolate with cinnamon for Mary Margaret. Apparently, everyone ordered the same thing around here. Weird.

"Sooooo, Storybrooke's nice. The kinda place everyone knows everyone right? I bet you even know the mayor huh?" Emma cringed inwardly at her transparent questioning but she doubted the naive-looking schoolteacher across from her would suspect she was fishing for info.

"Mayor Mills? I've only met her a few times. I don't think she liked me that much." Mary Margaret said sheepishly.

"What's she like?"

"Strict. Standoffish. Keeps to herself a lot. I mean, apart from official town business. She is a politician after all - but she's a great mayor", added Mary Margaret hastily, fearing that she'd sounded too harsh.

"Bet she runs a pretty tight ship then," said Emma.

Mary Margaret nodded, taking a sip of her chocolate. "Everything runs like clockwork around here. Except the actual clock of course."

"Uh huh." Emma raised her eyebrows at what was obviously a local joke. She'd passed the clock tower over the library on her way in. Apparently Storybrooke was eternally experiencing 8:15.

"Is she married? Any kids?" asked Emma, trying to sound offhand.

"The mayor? Oh yes, she has a little baby boy, a few months old."

"Must be hard as a single working mom."

"I guess so. Being away from your child must be the worst thing imaginable." Mary Margaret raised her mug again, looking thoughtful.

Emma felt a pang at that. She wanted to grill her companion more, but she didn't want to seem overly interested in the mayor's personal life in case it tipped her off. This was a small town after all. People talked, and those in power generally had ears everywhere. But Mary Margaret's info had given Emma something to go on. Her baby had been adopted by a tough single mom. Strangely, Emma would've loved to have had a strict parent as a child - at least a strict parent cared enough to lay down the law on TV and homework. Not like the cash-checkers under whose indifferent parenting Emma had been dragged up.

A burning question suddenly popped into Emma's mind.

"What's the mayor's kid's name?"

"I think she calls him Henry." Mary Margaret smiled, obviously thinking of babies and puppies and all things nice.

"Huh," Emma let out a huff, before finally picking up her now less-than-hot chocolate.

'I would never have called him Henry', her mind grumbled.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma Swan was stuck up a tree.

To be fair, she wasn't completely stuck. She just wasn't...immediately able to extricate herself. It wasn't that high, she could probably jump. But it definitely wasn't going to be graceful. And the park was full of families with their kids, running around playing with their dogs, cats, and rats, or whatever. She'd prefer to wait before embarrassing herself falling out of a stupid tree. No doubt she'd land on her ass.

Not that Emma cared about embarrassing herself in front of a bunch of small town soccer moms, but she was on a clandestine mission. She called it Operation Hawkeye. She may have spent her teenage years as a borderline delinquent but her younger years were spent rotting her brains out on arcade games and comic books. Emma was hardly dressed for spying in her plaid wool dress and black tights, but she'd managed to clamber up the tree and hide without attracting any attention.

This park was the only game in town. She'd overheard a couple of moms raving about the brand new shiny plastic play equipment their kids were currently trying to destroy. Emma figured it would be the perfect place for a new mom to take her kid for a walk of an afternoon. Especially if that mom was the mayor and had funded the whole refurbishment.

All Emma had to do was lie in wait until her target showed up.

The crunch of dried leaves on the ground below announced someone way closer than was mission-safe. Emma shrank back into the foliage while simultaneously trying to snoop on who had almost made her. There was a damn branch in the way nearly obscuring the woman below. Her dark brown hair was professionally cut in a short style that kicked around near her shoulders and she was immaculately dressed in power heels and an expensive suit that skirted her every curve.

Emma froze when she heard the voice below.

"Henry, dear, please stop crying. I don't know what you want." The woman leant over to peer under the blue blanket draped over the pram she was pushing.

Target acquired.

Emma pricked her ears and heard a sad sigh. "Let's go home then."

The sound of leaves crunching under the pram wheels had Emma twisting around the tree trunk trying to get a better glimpse as her mark disappeared from view. The woman had undoubtedly been Regina Mills.

"Damn". Emma slapped the coarse trunk as she lost sight of them. She'd been so close. Her baby had been in that pram! No. She shook her head as though to correct the thought. Not her baby. Just the kid she'd brought into the world and given to someone else. Someone else who had yet to prove herself as a competent and loving parent in the Court of Justice Emma. She wondered what he looked like now. He must be so big.

She needed more than just that little glimpse. But how? According to all reports, the mayor had been holed up at Mifflin St since bringing the kid home. A bit of asking around had revealed that Mayor Mills had no relatives in town, no close friends, no work colleagues. The woman was an island socially. It was bizarre.

Actually, it kinda reminded her of her own situation in life. Alone and friendless. Although, Emma didn't have the mansion or the cushy job as compensation. Or the mayor's killer body, she groused. Despite giving birth a few months earlier, Emma had been on the streets for a year before juvie and even now at 18 she was still sporting a gawky skinny teenager look.

"Right. Madam Mayor, you're a hard target. So it's time to take Operation Hawkeye to the next phase."

Emma squealed as she slid out of the tree, feeling like an idiot as she drew more than a few stares. She hit the ground and headed towards the town center with a cocky grin.

* * *

"You're telling me there's _one_ job available in this entire town? Is that normal?"

Emma tilted her head from the newspaper and scrunched her face into disbelief.

Ruby paused wiping the counter across from where Emma was propped up on a bar stool. "I guess so. Never really thought about it before."

"I've never heard of anyone being out of work here," said Mary Margaret, beside her.

"Seriously? How can that be?" Storybrooke was the weirdest place. Emma ripped the ad out of the middle of the page.

"Hey, I thought you were here on holiday, Emma? How come you're looking for job?" asked Ruby.

Busted. "Actually I think I'm gonna stay for a while. Find a job, find a place."

"Hold up, where are you staying?" asked Ruby, confused. "The B&B is the only place in town and I know we don't have any guests."

"Crashed in my car last night," Emma admitted.

Mary Margaret's face was a perfect mixture of scandalised and worried. "You slept in your _car_?"

"Not the worst place I've slept, trust me." Emma grinned rakishly.

"Well, you're staying at Granny's tonight." Ruby nodded to make it official. "It won't be easy finding a place to rent here. Mr Gold owns the town and last I heard, he wasn't taking on any new tenants. I so want my own place."

"One thing at a time. Tomorrow I'm gonna ace this job interview." Emma held up the little paper square at arm's length and squinted at it like she'd discovered a rare gem.

"Storybrooke, you're looking at the new maid for 108 Mifflin Street!"

Ruby whooped and Mary Margaret wished her good luck, saying they were both sure the young girl would get it.

Emma donned her lamb-coloured jacket and ducked out to her car to get her bag of clothes so she could check in to the B&B. When she got back she could tell the older girls had been talking about her and she glanced at them suspiciously.

"Shouldn't we tell her whose house that is?" whispered Mary Margaret.

"No, are you crazy." Ruby hissed back at her.

"Emma! We were just wondering if you have, you know, any relevant experience for your job interview tomorrow?" said Mary Margaret.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "You can clean, right Ems?"

"Ruby!" Mary Margaret shot her a look.

"Yeah, no worries," said Emma. "I haven't had a job before but I've got plenty of experience."

The girls waited in expectant silence for the teen to explain.

"I was in jail." Emma shrugged up her backpack and went out the door at the back of the diner that connected to the B&B.

Ruby and Mary Margaret shared a look as if they weren't quite sure if the blonde had been serious. Ruby called out to Emma's retreating back.

"Hey, Ems! Tomorrow, girl's night! To celebrate your new job. Me and M&M will show you the nightlife."

Emma leant around the doorway with a playful smirk. She made a show of looking around the diner, where the sunset was streaming in on the empty tables and booths. "You mean, this isn't it?"

* * *

Emma held the phone to her ear and listened with a frown as it rang and rang. She crossed her boots on the floral bedspread and leaned back into the frilly pillows.

Eventually a tired sounding voice answered with a terse "Hello."

"Uh, hi. Is this 108 Mifflin Street?" asked Emma, trying out her polite grownup voice.

"I don't have time for this." The woman sounded harassed.

"Wait, don't hang up! Uh, my name is Emma Swan. I uh, found the ad in the paper and I just wanted to uhm, confirm, that I'll be attending the job interview tomorrow."

"Oh. Thanks for letting me know, Ms Swan. I'll expect you at 10. Is there anything else?"

Emma heard a baby wail in the background and her jaw dropped at the coincidence. It couldn't be, could it?

"Ms Swan?" said the woman impatiently.

"Yes, sorry, I'm here. Um, can I ask your name, please?"

There was a beat of silence as though the other person was stunned that Emma didn't know who she was.

The background wailing escalated into a scream. That was Henry!

"It's Regina Mills. I'm sorry, I have to go."

Emma listened to the hangup, blown away at how she'd gotten so lucky. Pretty soon she'd have a job and she'd be able to work on Operation Hawkeye within the enemy's lair itself.

Too bad she'd never actually been to a job interview before. But how hard could it be?


	3. Chapter 3

When Emma arrived at 108 Mifflin St at 10:04am there was already someone there waiting on the porch. She sidled up, preparing to psych out her competition.

"So, you're here for the job interview too?"

When the other girl turned around and nodded Emma groaned inwardly. The girl was about her own age, blonde, and she looked about 28 months pregnant. It dawned on Emma that she'd seen the girl before, she was pretty sure it was the maid from the B&B.

"Um, I heard that the position has been filled." It was a barefaced lie. But the trick with lying without sounding bogus was to be plausible and not to give away too much.

The sad-looking girl left with a shrug, presumably she would go back to her current job.

"I can't believe that worked." Emma shook her head in amazement. She felt a bit guilty, but dismissed it easily. Growing up in her situation had taught her to grab opportunities when they popped up, you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.

She knocked on the door right near the gold 108 numbers and waited.

And waited.

When there was no answer for several minutes she knocked again. The house was basically a mansion. It was pretty intimidating actually.

Finally, the door opened to reveal Regina Mills, appearing as impeccable as she had in the park. Emma's voice stuck in her throat. The woman was stunning up close, her delicate features composed politely.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm Emma Swan. Uh, I'm here about the maid thingy."

Regina opened the door wide for the young blonde and showed her into the office. Emma perched apprehensively on a chair that was probably worth more than her car and surveyed the room, which was wall-to-wall with books. The mayor's decorating style ran along tasteful and expensive, like the rest of house. Regina took the chair across from her and rested her arms as though sitting on a throne.

"So, Ms Swan. Tell me about yourself."

Emma gulped and suddenly her traitorous brain reminded her of her checkered past and lack of education. "Um, I'm 18. New to Storybrooke. I like um, reading, and hanging out with friends. And I think I could do a good job cleaning up your house."

The mayor smiled but her eyes narrowed. Emma realised what she'd just implied.

"I mean, not that your house is bad! Cos it's not! It's awesome. It's really clean. I don't even know why you need a maid." Emma tried to backtrack inelegantly, managing to dig herself in deeper.

"I mean, of course you probably still need someone to clean it's just that...um, I really want the job." Emma finished with a red face. God, she was completely blowing this.

The mayor merely seemed amused. "Well, Ms Swan. Do you have any experience as a maid in a house of this type? Any references?"

None that you would want to check, Emma thought darkly, picturing the well-bred woman in front of her on the phone to her former warden asking if her scrubbing skills were up to scratch.

"I know I'm young and I don't have experience. But I can do a good job, I promise." Emma schooled her most sincere face. "Maybe you can tell me what you're looking for?"

The mayor rose elegantly and moved to the mantle before answering. "I need someone reliable and dependable. Someone punctual who does her work to an excellent standard, is neat and presentable at all times, and someone who knows how to be discrete."

"Yeah, that sounds like me," said Emma. Internally, she laughed, thinking to herself, 'Lady, you need a genie if you're looking for a housemaid with all that'. There was no way this woman would hire her if she knew her record. But Emma was banking on her not being able to find out.

"Well, as you are the only applicant, I suppose you can start today, Ms Swan. Congratulations."

* * *

Emma hauled the bucket of cleaning supplies out of the garage and dragged her wrist across her sweaty forehead. In her mind, she'd pictured that her first task would be flitting about the house in a French maid uniform dusting random antiques. Instead, here she was hauling several loads of dirty baby clothes into the laundry and sorting them by colour. Judging by the amount of laundry, the baby had been wearing multiple sets of new clothes every day since he'd got here.

The mayor had taken the blonde on a quick tour of the downstairs rooms, pointing out what needed to be cleaned and how regularly and which particular cleaning product and process was required. Emma had ignored most of it, she was too busy being awed by the stately wealth of each room. Was this huge palace really occupied by one woman and a tiny baby?

The mayor ended the tour saying that she worked from her home office lately and was not to be disturbed. Emma was to make no noise at all since the baby was sleeping.

"Um, Regina?" Emma had glanced up at the staircase when they'd come full circle into the foyer.

"Ms Mills or Madam Mayor will be fine."

"Right. Sorry. Madam Mayor, what about upstairs? Do you need me to clean the bedrooms?"

Regina had pressed her lips tightly. "You won't be needed upstairs."

Remembering the mayor's clear warning that she stay downstairs, Emma sat on the laundry floor in the centre of three piles of clothes inventing reasons to go upstairs. She was this close to her son, and she wouldn't be foiled easily.

* * *

By the end of the week Emma began to resent the prissy statues and vases. Dusting each one carefully had taken her half a day. For days she'd polished banisters that already shone, mopped floors that already gleamed, and cleaned bathrooms that already sparkled. Today she'd decided to give herself a break and do a half-assed job since everything was already so ridiculously clean. But she still had to be present for her allotted hours and after twiddling her idle thumbs for two hours she figured it might be less boring to actually do her job.

Emma flicked the bulbous nose of some bronze dude on a horse. She stopped what she was doing when she heard the baby wailing in a distant nursery upstairs. Henry cried a lot. Usually, within 30 seconds of a cry Emma would hear the office door open and the signature clack of heels in the foyer as Regina trotted upstairs to tend to her son. No matter where she was in the house though, Emma always heard Henry cry. Each time she had to fight the instinct to go to him. It wasn't her responsibility anymore but the sound always stopped her in her tracks.

This time was different. Way more than 30 seconds had passed and the cries just got louder, no matter how Emma tried to ignore them. Where was Regina? Why hadn't she gone to the little boy screaming himself hoarse upstairs? Was she trying out some self-soothing strategy from one of those stupid baby books?

Screw this, thought Emma, dropping the dust cloths on the floor. She couldn't let the kid cry forever and surely the mayor would overlook one breach of the Forbidden Floor as Emma secretly referred to upstairs.

Emma gingerly stepped up the stairs and followed the sound of crying to a beautifully decorated nursery. Her heart leapt seeing her baby's lovely room with it's blue striped wallpaper and matching baby furniture. There was a little bookcase, no doubt already full of nursery rhymes and fairy tales, topped with a selection of stuffed zoo animals. But her eyes were drawn like magnets to the crib where a little red-faced baby in a white onesie cried his heart out.

Emma lifted Henry out of the crib and settled his weight on her shoulder for the first time in so many months. He quietened down and settled as she swayed gently.

"Hey now, kid. What's with the crying? I bet you're just bored up here all by yourself huh? Well, your mom is downstairs working really hard. And I'm …working too. There now, shhh."

Emma patted circles on Henry's back like she used to and inhaled his soft baby scent. She wondered if -

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

Regina stood in the doorway glaring at the pair malevolently.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"What are you doing with my son?" Regina's voice was low and threatening.

Emma gaped in shock as the mayor strode into the room and snatched Henry out of her arms. The little boy didn't like the jostling though and began to whimper.

"Uh, he was crying-" started Emma. "I just thought -"

"No, you don't get to think. Your job is to clean. I told you to stay downstairs."

Emma scoffed and gestured uselessly. "Yeah, but - he was screaming. I figured you were on the phone or something."

The mayor set the boy back in the crib and gave Emma a long hard look as though trying to figure out if she was lying. "I didn't hear him cry."

Emma reached into the crib and retrieved the baby monitor. She tapped it against her palm and inspected it. She knew the mayor kept the other monitor in the study with her at all times. "I think it's out of battery."

"Indeed." Regina stared down at Henry and then spoke to herself. "I still should have heard him."

Seeing that the mayor was contrite softened Emma. The woman was beating herself up over nothing. "Hey it's ok, it's not like he was up here choking on his foot or something. You would've heard him eventually before anything bad happened."

"Clearly you know nothing about children," said Regina unkindly.

"You're right, I don't." Emma's tempered flared but it was quickly damped down by guilt. Feelings of regret over giving him away resurfaced. Her son would obviously have a well-cared for comfortable upbringing here, but the poor little thing was miserable. Was he missing her?

The two women stood side by side at the crib gazing down at the baby.

"Why does he cry so much?" asked Emma quietly.

The mayor sighed heavily at having to explain. "He's a baby. They cry when they want something."

"So what does Henry want?"

The mayor inhaled and looked at her sharply. "I never told you my son's name."

"Ms Swan, what are you doing here? Nobody comes to Storybrooke and nobody leaves. Ever."

Emma was not one to cower under a piercing glare. She rolled her eyes and went to leave the room. "His name is on the nursery door."

"You didn't answer my question, Ms Swan."

"It's after four. I have to go. See you Monday, Madam Mayor."

"No, dear. I won't see you on Monday."

"Er, alright. See you Tuesday then." Emma raised her shoulders in confusion and waved goodbye.

"I meant, don't bother coming back. Ms Swan, you're fired."

Emma gaped angrily for a few seconds before stomping downstairs. If she wasn't afraid of upsetting Henry, she would've slammed the door on her way out.

* * *

Insufferable, cold-hearted, prissy, stuck up bitch!

Emma stalked down main street, muttering under her breath. She kicked out her foot at a trashcan hoping to knock it over. Her ankle jarred against the fixed steel frame and she cursed. She wanted to make a mess of this stupid perfect town. Everything was in too much order, as if nothing ever happened here. Just like the mayor's house. It was irritating.

She passed one of the town noticeboards and ripped away a fistful of flyers without stopping and let the scraps float to the ground.

"I do hope your wrath will spare my little shop."

Emma jumped and tried to look innocent. A short slight man leant on his cane in front of a pawnbroker shop smiling at her kindly. She'd better not get caught vandalising or thieving again she realised. Now that she was 18, she had to start being more responsible - or at least, better at not getting caught. Otherwise it'd be big girl prison this time.

"You're the mayor's new girl aren't you?" the man asked, with his accent showing through.

"Not anymore." Emma let her arms flap against her sides and shrugged sarcastically.

The man nodded knowingly and gave a lopsided smirk. "You shouldn't give up so easily, dearie."

"You're Mr Gold. Landlord who owns the town."

Ruby had described the impish man perfectly. Apart from the mayor, he was the other major power in Storybrooke. Another one with eyes and ears everywhere. Emma didn't see what there was to be afraid of though. It's not like she owed him any rent.

"I see my reputation precedes me. And may I ask your name? Don't make me guess," he said when she didn't answer and started to walk to away.

"How's the mayor's boy doing?" Gold called after her.

Emma stopped at the kerb to check the road for cars.

"I take an interest is all. Nobody's seen much of the mayor since I procured the boy for her."

Emma whirled around, not bothering to hide her incredulity. " _You_ organised the adoption?"

"I did. Now, what is your name?" His voice acquired a bit of anxiety.

"See ya." Emma didn't know why she stubbornly refused to tell him as she continued on her way.

* * *

"Emma, I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding."

The blonde leant her chin on her hand and looked at Mary Margaret as if to say 'are you serious?' They were both sitting at the bar nursing drinks at Granny's. It was after hours but the two girls had offered to stick around while Ruby closed up shop.

Mary Margaret didn't know that Emma's drink was alcoholic. Ruby had poured it with a wink when the pixie-haired woman wasn't looking. The schoolteacher listened politely to Emma's ranting about losing her job after only a week and how unfair the mayor had been.

"Well, maybe you can apologise. Get your job back."

"Yeah, right. And maybe the mayor will grow a personality."

Mary Margaret pointed out that the mayor had a lot of cares on her mind with keeping the town running smoothly. "It must be hard for her. Especially now that she has a child."

Emma placed her drink on the counter and set her jaw. "Do you think the kid's ok? Is Regina a good mother?"

Mary Margaret smiled and dug into her purse for her phone. She swiped through a few photos before settling on a particular one. "Here, look at this."

Emma almost aaawed aloud at the photo of Regina holding a much smaller Henry wrapped in a blue blanket decorated with the fish from Dr Seuss. It was a beautiful photo. In it Henry looked the same as she remembered him a few months ago. The other person in the photo was caught mid-laugh, pure joy written over her face. If Emma had seen this photo before coming to Storybrooke she might never have come.

"I took that the day she got Henry," said Mary Margaret, remembering the day fondly. "Mr Gold asked me to mind the baby while he handled the paperwork with Regina. He was so tiny. When I placed him in her arms...I've never seen anyone so happy. Like she couldn't quite believe he was finally hers."

So why was Regina no longer happy? Did she regret adopting her son? Emma wondered.

"So what's her deal? Why is she so..." Emma raised her hands in an imaginary stranglehold. "She's so frustrating. It's as if she's above interacting like a normal human being."

"I think she's just lonely. Maybe she's afraid people will judge her. So she puts up a wall to protect herself."

"Dunno what she's afraid of people judging. She's smart, beautiful, got a great life together. It's not like she's-"

It's not like she's _me_ , Emma's mind completed the sentence for her.

"She's a bit like you that way."

Emma almost spat her drink everywhere. "What? I'm nothing like her."

"I meant, about not letting anyone in." Mary Margaret said gently.

"And don't think I didn't see what Ruby put in here." The teacher pointedly moved Emma's glass out of reach. Busted.

"Yeah well, the last time I let someone in it didn't go so well. For more than just me," Emma said darkly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Without a job to go back to on Monday, Emma regarded the weekend far less fondly. She paced around her room at the B&B for a while, going over everything in her mind. What the hell she was still doing in this stupid little town? She'd planned to come here to make sure her son was ok and then she was gonna leave. Just had to make sure the adoptive mother wasn't a psycho or a druggie and didn't starve or hit the kid (that'd make her better than some of the ones in Emma's experience).

Now what? Hadn't she done what she came here for?

Henry was fine. Regina was fine. Granted, she was cold and strict, but at least she wanted Henry didn't she? He'd grow up healthy with plenty of toys and friends, he'd get a great education. What more could Emma wish for for him?

_She wished to see him._ Her mind slammed the lid quickly on that thought. It would come to no good. She'd made a decision, she'd given him up, and there was nothing that could change it now. In fact, everything she'd done since coming to Storybrooke violated the terms of the closed adoption.

It was 10:40 Monday morning. Normally the teen would've been at the mayor's house by now. She'd been checking her phone every five minutes for over an hour, hoping that the mayor would call to say she'd changed her mind about firing her.

"This totally sucks," the blonde muttered to herself.

Emma checked her phone again. No calls. No txts.

"Damnit, I'm not gonna just sit here! There's nothing to do in this stupid town either."

Emma didn't have much patience for waiting, she was more of an action kind of girl. She scrolled through her phone looking for the right contact, pressed call, and listened to the rings.

No answer.

Right. That's it. The mayor wasn't going to call her and she wasn't answering her phone either. Emma wasn't worried, no way. Regina was just being too stubborn to answer. Emma quickly pulled her boots on and grabbed her lamb jacket.

There was nothing else to do but go over there.

* * *

"Regina! Open the door!" Emma banged loudly on the door right near the gold 108. She knew the mayor was in there because her car was in the driveway.

"Regina!" She knocked again, not caring if she woke Henry at this point.

Just when Emma was deciding whether to go around back, the door swung open. She was shocked at the sight of the mayor, her eyes red and watery like she hadn't slept in days. Her usually impeccable outfit had been replaced by a rumpled suit (was that spit-up on the collar?) and she was holding a screaming Henry.

"Woah you look like sh-"

Regina's face crumpled as she practically threw the baby into the blonde's arms. "T-take him."

Emma deftly caught the boy's weight. She had trouble keeping the alarm out of her voice. "What's wrong? Is he ok?"

Emma followed the mayor inside the house and started to rock side-to-side but Henry continued to cry hoarsely.

Regina was holding back sobs of desperation. "He won't stop crying! He hasn't stopped all night. I don't know what to do."

That explained how terrible Regina looked.

Emma was concerned about the baby as well. He wasn't so much crying as alternately screaming and coughing. His face was red with the effort of breathing. She pressed her hand to his soft head. He didn't feel hot so he probably wasn't too sick. She frowned.

Emma grasped the mayor's fingers lightly. "Go change out of that suit and come into the bathroom."

* * *

When Regina entered the downstairs bathroom it was full of hot steam. Emma was standing in the shower in just her tights and a white singlet top. Her blonde hair hung in wet stringy curls and water droplets clung to her skin. She had the baby snuggled against her chest.

His screams had died down to the occasional whimper.

"He's better." Regina sighed in relief. "How did you know what to do?"

"I don't know. I thought the steam might help him breathe a bit better. Poor kid's exhausted." Emma rubbed circles on his small back.

"Get in here, Madam Mayor."

"Excuse me?"

"Henry wants his mommy."

Regina tossed her sweater over the rack where Emma's overdress lay. She stepped into the shower immediately soaking her pants.

Regina hesitated as the younger woman gently transferred the baby to her. Emma kept a hand on the boy's back and pressed herself close to the brunette even though the shower was large enough for the both of them to stand outside the spray.

Henry's eyes began to droop.

"He likes to hear your heartbeat," Emma whispered.

* * *

Regina placed her hand atop Emma's and they cradled the tired little boy, each gazing down at him lovingly.

Once Henry had drifted off Regina went to put him down in his crib and change out of her wet clothes. Emma sat at the bottom of the staircase waiting for the mayor to return. She'd slipped her grey dress on again but the bottom six inches of her tights were still uncomfortably damp.

She turned at the sound of soft footsteps behind her.

"Down for the count?" whispered Emma.

Regina nodded and held out a thick white envelope. "Here."

"What's this?"

The mayor crossed her arms awkwardly. "Your wages for last week. And extra for today."

Emma accepted the envelope and let out a derisive huff. The finality of the mayor's tone convinced her that her services were no longer required. "Just like that huh?"

"Excuse me?" said the brunette innocently, but Emma wasn't buying it.

"You think you can just ignore everything and I'll walk out of here?"

"Lower your voice," warned Regina. She glanced upwards listening for the baby.

"What the hell is wrong with you? That you won't ask for help when you need it?" Emma whispered angrily.

"You can't talk to me like that. You have no right to judge me."

Emma sighed shakily. "I'm not judging you! Geez I'm the last person who should be judging anyone. But I know how to recognise someone in trouble."

Regina shifted away in annoyance. "I don't need help. Especially from someone like you."

"You've got a demanding job and you're alone in this house with a fussy baby all the time. When I first saw this place I thought 'wow who would ever want to leave?' But even a palace can become a prison if you let it."

Brown met green and they held each other's stare for a few beats before a knock at the door startled them.

Regina smoothed her hair and went to answer it.

"Mr Gold. What can I do for you?"

"Madam Mayor. Is this a bad time for our meeting?" said the visitor genially. Gold was dressed in his usual sharp suit, leaning on his cane in the doorway.

Regina, ever the perfect hostess, gestured him through to her office. "Of course not, I'll be in in a minute."

The brunette turned to give Emma significant look. "I just need to discuss cleaning the upstairs bedrooms with my maid."

Emma beamed at Regina as the silent peace treaty passed between them.

* * *

Neither of the women noticed Mr Gold, casting his eye over the trinkets in the mayor's home office. His gaze settled on a gold watch laying on the desk.

The pawnbroker picked up the expensive timepiece and slipped it into his pocket.

It'd be a shame if it turned up somewhere it was not supposed to be.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Please Emma?"

"Nope."

"Oh come on, what could it hurt?"

Mary Margaret was pleading at Emma with her brown puppy dog eyes, but the blonde ignored her and resolutely dug into her fruit loops.

After a few weeks, living at the B&B was getting expensive so Emma had had to seek out another living arrangement. Wanting to avoid both the creepy landlord Mr Gold and the commitment of a lease (she preferred to be able to blow out of town if and when it became necessary), Emma had moved into the spare room in the schoolteacher's apartment. Having grown up in foster homes and spent time sharing a cell, Emma had vowed never to live with another person again if at all possible. But things were working out here better than she expected. Mary Margaret was always looking after the young blonde and her presence was somehow comforting without being obtrusive. Plus Emma had her job, another thing going well for her in Storybrooke, but the main reason was that she wasn't ready to leave Henry yet.

"Pleeeease, for me? What else are you going to do?"

Mary Margaret was trying to convince Emma into coming to Storybrooke's Annual Picnic Day on Saturday. Apparently it was a favourite event of the community ("Everyone loves it!") and the whole town usually turned up. There would be stalls and games and plenty of people.

"I have a busy schedule that day."

"Like what, sleep till noon?"

"For starters. My plans are still in the draft stages."

"Well, it might do you good to meet some new people. You've been in Storybrooke two months and you hardly know anyone."

Emma dropped her spoon in mock indignation. "That's not true! I know you and Ruby. And that grumpy janitor at your school, Elroy."

Mary Margaret gave her the look. "Leroy."

"Fine!" Emma said in a long-suffering way. She couldn't explain her reluctance in going - wasn't she always complaining that there was nothing to do in Storybrooke? When she agreed Mary Margaret's face lit up in excitement.

"I'm going to be pretty busy looking after the kids and managing activities on the day. There's still so much to do and we haven't organised anyone for the official opening since the mayor's unavailable this year."

The last part was said offhand but it surprised Emma. "Regina's not going? Isn't attending these kind of dork fests part of her job?"

"I guess it's too much now that she has Henry." Mary Margaret shrugged and took a sip of her tea.

"Huh." Emma wasn't convinced by that explanation.

Henry had finally settled into a good routine and was doing much better these days. Lately his favourite pastime was grabbing anything within reach, particularly Emma's long blonde locks which he liked to tangle in his tiny fist and refuse to let go. Regina thought it was really amusing, laughing heartily at Emma's pained cries of Ow!, ...that was until Henry discovered the brunette's earrings and necklaces were just as fun to yank.

"Oh my god, you should've seen what he did the other day..."

Emma launched into yet another tale of the growing baby's antics to Mary Margaret's willing ears. All the younger woman could talk about when they were at home was something adorable Henry did or something Regina said. Emma described the little boy in such loving terms that it made Mary Margaret worry if the teen was becoming too attached. She was especially animated when she related times that the three of them spent together.

"...so I gave him the lid for the pot as well, and it's hilarious because Regina hates all the noise but she would never say anything when it comes to Henry. So I told her I'd get him a real drum kit for his birthday..."

"And?"

"She threatened to run me out of town."

* * *

Regina leant against the nursery door with a smile on her face, watching the scene on the floor in front of her. Emma Swan was sitting crossed-legged with Henry sitting up across from her (by himself! She remembered with pride the first time last week that her little boy managed to sit and stay up without assistance). The pair were surrounded by a selection of coloured blocks and were both wearing pirate hats folded out of newspaper.

Ever since the day they'd held Henry in the shower, the mayor had relaxed a little in her treatment of Ms Swan. Letting her access the bedrooms upstairs had felt like a breach of privacy at first. But little by little she'd come to realise how much help the blonde teen was. Trying to keep the house in order and run the town while taking on the role of sole carer of a young child had been too much all at once. During the day sometimes Regina even allowed Emma to help with Henry, although she preferred to tend him herself as much as her work would allow. Emma had taken a shine to her extra duties.

"Arghhh! You think you can defeat ME, Pirate Henry? I think not! ha ha ha ha HA!" Emma was playing the part and putting on a deep gruff voice. She put a rectangular block in the baby's hand which he promptly used to knock down one of the stacks of blocks.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" The baby repeated it over and over in his gurgly nonsense language.

"Oh is that so? We'll see about that!" said Emma.

Regina knelt down on the floor near Henry, demurely crossing her legs underneath her tailored skirt. She bent over to place a kiss in her son's soft brown hair.

"Want to join us, Madam Mayor? We've got an opening for the part of Pirate Wench."

Regina rolled her eyes good naturedly. "No thank you. But I am pleased to see you've found someone your own level to interact with."

Emma returned the sentiment with an obnoxious look of her own. "Har har. Yeah well, Henry is a great conversationalist. Aren't you?" She reached over to poke him in the tummy making him giggle and squeal.

Regina held out her phone, the reason she'd come up to the nursery. "Ms Swan, did you text me from inside the house?"

Emma shook her head nonchalantly. "Nope. Must've been Henry."

"I see. Then why is it a photo _of_ Henry?" asked the mayor, her tone amused. She held up the phone screen which showed Henry in his current outfit of pirate hat and a t-shirt ( _not_ purchased by her) that had a pair of sunglasses and the words 'COOL DUDE' on it.

"Henry! I told you to stop using my phone for taking selfies!" The baby was oblivious to Emma's mock chastising. He looked at her with wide brown eyes while innocently sucking on a block.

Regina pressed her phone and read out the text that accompanied the photo message. "It says:

Hi Mommy, I know you're working really hard on boring town budgets right now, but can we please go to Picnic Day on Saturday? It's gonna be really fun. Love Henry."

The mayor raised her eyes significantly and read the postscript. "PS. Emma is awesome."

"See? He's really clever, recognising my awesomeness, what can I say?" said Emma.

"You spelled 'awesome' wrong. My son can spell better than that."

"Whatever. So are you coming? To Picnic Day?"

Regina lifted Henry into her arms and swiveled him to face her. He immediately tried to stuff his fingers into her mouth and she pretended to bite them playfully. "I suppose I am. How could I say no to an invitation from a handsome young prince?"


	7. Chapter 7

"Charming speech, Madam Mayor."

Regina drew in a deep breath of frustration and assembled a closed smile before turning around. The voice was a familiar annoyance and she wondered ruefully how this man still managed to insinuate himself into her life.

"Mr Gold. I do hope you're enjoying Picnic Day." Her best diplomatic voice.

Regina folded her speech notes in half and tucked them into her jacket pocket. She'd just finished welcoming the citizens of Storybrooke to the official event opening and was handing off the microphone to Mary Margaret, who scurried away with it quickly.

"Indeed. I'm especially glad to see you here, with your family. How is young Master Henry these days?" Mr Gold gestured over to where Ms Swan had spread a red tartan picnic blanket over the ground next to Henry's pram.

"Exceeding developmental milestones," Regina couldn't help saying out of motherly pride. It was uncomfortable to be reminded of Gold's involvement in Henry's adoption and she was anxious to get back to her son.

"Talking yet? Oh no I don't supposed he's old enough yet."

"Not yet." Regina gritted her teeth. What would it take for Gold to go away? She nodded politely and took her leave.

"Oh Regina? You might want to keep an eye on the amount of time your nanny spends with your son. It could be very confusing for the boy."

Gold sure knew how to twist the knife by flooding her with that constant ache of single motherhood - guilt. The mayor knew she was being manipulated, but she couldn't ignore the sting of the implication that she didn't spend enough time with her son. He spoke to her back but he knew she would hear every word.

"When he does start to talk...make sure he knows which of you to call 'Mommy'."

* * *

"Hey, what took you so long? We were almost starting to forget you," teased Emma.

"Duty calls." The mayor said stiffly, lowering herself to the ground. She smoothed the blanket out around her and pulled Henry into her lap. It was his first real outing and she'd dressed him smartly in a little blue button down for the occasion.

Emma opened the picnic basket and began pulling out containers the pair of them had packed that morning. She took out a biscuit for Henry to gum on. She was just about to open a bottle of apple cider when Regina snatched it out of her hand.

"Hey!"

"That's not for you." The mayor handed over a second bottle. "This one is for you. I made some non-alcoholic cider. And do stop pouting, dear. That's only cute on Henry."

Emma muttered something about mothers having eyes in the back of their head. "You're not gonna get away with squat, kid."

"What was that?"

"I said Henry's a lucky kid."

The two settled into a comfortable silence, watching the happenings around them. Picnic Day was held in the expansive lawn in front of Town Hall. There were many families enjoying themselves, lounging out on picnic blankets or perusing the food stalls. The weather had been cooperative so far, every now and then a pleasant breeze floated over them.

* * *

"Madam Mayor? Henry's getting really cranky. I think we should head home."

Emma glared at Mr Gold for interrupting their pleasant day again. He'd cornered the mayor again to discuss some business deal but Emma sensed that the brunette wanted rescuing. She really didn't like that guy. Every time Regina had to deal with him at a meeting she would be prickly afterwards since he always left her in a bad mood. It was nearing the end of Picnic Day anyway and people were starting to leave. The sky was starting to look a bit threatening and the wind was picking up.

The mayor accepted a whinging Henry into her arms and Emma knelt down to pack up their things.

"We really ought to be going, Mr Gold," said Regina, hoping he'd get the hint.

"Of course. Perhaps we can discuss this another time."

"Yes, I will have more regular office hours in future." Regina lay Henry down in his pram and fastened the straps around him.

"All packed and ready to go?" Emma said it to Regina, but scowled at Gold. She hiked the strap of her backpack onto her shoulder with one hand and lifted the picnic basket with the other.

A flash of gold dropped into the grass despite the fading light.

"What's that? I think you dropped something, dearie." Mr Gold used his cane for leverage to retrieve an object from the ground near Emma's feet.

"It fell from your backpack," said the pawnbroker. He held out the gold watch making sure Regina saw it.

"What? No it didn't. That's not mine," said Emma.

"It's mine. I keep it in my office," said Regina quietly. She held out her hand and took the watch from Gold.

Emma felt panic rise inside her at what the major's suspicions must be and immediately went on the defensive.

"Wait, NO. Regina, I swear, I've never seen that before in my life!" cried Emma.

"Really. Not even the other day when I stepped out so you could tidy up in my office?"

"I didn't steal it! Why would I? You have to believe me," insisted Emma, her voice rose desperately.

"Oh dear, I do hope I haven't caused any trouble," Mr Gold interrupted with exaggerated concern.

Emma bit her lip until tears pricked her eyes. She shot daggers at the guy as he slunk away, leaving the women in a deafening silence.

The mayor, refusing to make eye contact, tightened her grip on the pram and kicked off the brake.

"Somebody must've planted it in my backpack to make it look like I stole it! Please believe me," pleaded Emma. The blonde placed her hand on the older woman's arm but it was shrugged off immediately.

Regina's voice was cold. "If you come near me or my son again I'll have you arrested."


	8. Chapter 8

_Three weeks earlier_

Regina was at her desk at Town Hall fidgeting and glaring with irritation at the paperwork in front of her. She sighed impatiently and glanced at her watch. 12.04. She wondered what Henry was doing with Emma right now...

It was her first day back at work since she'd adopted Henry. Sure, she'd worked from home for months but she'd never been this far from her baby for so many hours. It was unnerving. She worried her fingernail between her lips. What if something went wrong and she wasn't there? She should've checked to see if Miss Swan had a first aid qualification. Why hadn't she asked that?

Her mind continued to race with what if's and she picked up the phone several times to call home before putting it straight back down again. The mayor rose quickly and rubbed her hand across her forehead in weary annoyance. She went to the window of her office to overlook the lawns where her apple tree stood.

"Knock, knock?" came a cheery voice from behind her. "Hey, Madam Mayor. Guess who's here?"

It was Emma, standing in the doorway to her office. She had Henry propped up on one hip and a diaper bag slung across her shoulder.

The smile dropped off Emma's face seeing the mayor's surprise. "Uh, I'm sorry. I should've called. You're busy..."

"No!" said Regina quickly. "I mean, I am busy... but don't go."

Emma came into the room and brought Henry closer. When she went to transfer the baby to his mother he squawked out a cry of protest.

"Hey now, what's up, kid? I know you've missed your Mommy and I bet your Mommy's missed you..." Emma chuckled as she settled the resisting boy in Regina's arms.

Regina felt the worries melt away looking down at Henry's face. She stroked his wispy brown hair gently and he eventually stopped wiggling and searching around.

"So how're you doing?" asked Emma, with a knowing grin. She followed Regina over to one of the office lounges where they sat.

"I'm fine, Miss Swan. What are you doing here?" said Regina, her amused tone revealing that she knew what the blonde was fishing for. She'd obviously expected Regina to be fretting at work from missing her child, which she was of course.

"Oh you know. We were bored at home. Just wanted to come see how you were on your first day back and all," said Emma with a casual shrug.

"How is he today?" asked Regina softly. "Has he cried much?"

"Nah, he's been great. We went for a walk to the park and then we had a nap. Have you eaten yet?" said Emma.

Emma started rummaging through the diaper bag. She pulled out a jar of homemade apple puree and a spoon and a white bag from Granny's diner.

"Here. I thought you might want lunch."

Regina accepted the bag gratefully and peaked inside to find her usual chicken, spinach and feta on Turkish bread. Wordlessly she shifted Henry back to Emma so her hands were free enough to eat.

Henry fussed the whole time and giggled as the blonde tried to get him to eat his lunch. Regina made the apple puree herself from scratch using the apples from her own tree and it was almost the only solid food that the baby would eat so far.

"Mm," said Emma, with the spoon in her mouth. "This is actually pretty good, Regina. I don't think I wanna share, Henry. Sorry kid."

Regina rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Emma, stop eating the baby's food. And you, young man, be a good boy and eat your lunch."

Henry gummed his lips and looked at his mother with innocent wide-eyes. His mouth and chin were covered in apple puree.

"I think he's eaten as much as he's going to," said Emma, cleaning off the baby with his bib.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Uh, excuse me, Madam Mayor? Your next appointment is here," the mayor's secretary announced promptly and then disappeared.

Emma clenched her jaw, seeing who it was, and started packing up the mess. More like _dis_ appointment.

"Don't you all look like a happy family?" said Mr Gold, in his irritatingly smooth manner.

The mayor stiffened immediately. "Mr Gold. I'll just be a minute."

Regina picked up Henry and walked Emma to the door.

"See you at home later?" asked Emma, accepting the baby into her arms.

Regina nodded and leaned in to kiss Henry's cheek. "Thanks Emma, for lunch and..."

The blonde smiled and left reluctantly. The mayor watched them go with a pang.

Emma turned at the end of the hall and held up Henry's hand making him wave to Regina. "Bye bye Mommy."

* * *

_Present_

"I know what it looks like, but I really didn't steal the watch. Why would I? Why would I risk- " Emma cut herself off before she skirted closer to the truth. The teen was getting desperate. She knew she wasn't being very convincing, pleading like a schoolkid and gesturing wildly. But she could hardly tell the mayor the real reason why she would never mess up in Storybrooke - because she couldn't risk losing access to her son. Not for as stupid a thing as a fancy watch.

"Oh I don't know. It _is_ worth more than your job here." The mayor sat behind her desk at Town Hall making a show of handling paperwork.

Regina could be such an elitist snob sometimes. Emma still didn't have a lot of money but she'd turned her life around now.

"I make enough to get by, as you know. I don't need to steal. I can prove it to you."

Knowing she was taking a huge risk, Emma threw a manila file on the mayor's desk right in front of her. This could backfire on her and make the mayor even less likely to believe her. She was determined to play whatever cards she had though.

Regina sighed impatiently. "What is this?"

"Read it."

It was Emma's juvenile court records from last year. Emma Swan, 17, petty larceny conviction, sentence 11 months, Phoenix, Arizona, records sealed. Giving the records to the mayor _would_ backfire on Emma but not until many years later.

"I let you into my home. I let you near my son," said Regina, in a low voice after she'd skimmed the details of Emma's sketchy past. "You're nothing but a common criminal."

"That's not who I am anymore. Why would I show you this if I did it?" cried Emma.

"So I should take your word for it? Let you back into my house so you can steal from me again? I think it's time you left Storybrooke, Ms Swan. It's going to happen eventually anyway, might as well make it a clean break."

"What, no. I don't want that! I have something great here. I have - Henry. I'm here for you and Henry." Emma stammered. She still wasn't ready to leave Storybrooke, she couldn't imagine her life anymore without being able to see him everyday.

"You love Henry," the mayor stated flatly.

"Y-yes. How could anyone not love him."

The mayor suddenly rose and stalked away from her desk. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at the blonde.

" _I'm_ his mother. What am I supposed to do with the fact that he prefers you over me?" The hurt and angry rolled off Regina like waves. It must have cost her a lot to admit that fear. This was no longer just about an accusation of stealing.

Emma shook her head, trying to deny it. She knew how hard it had been for the other woman to bond with her son initially. "No, he doesn't-"

"He cried nonstop for the first three months. Nothing I did was right. No matter how I tried to comfort him, nothing worked...

"Until _you_ showed up," Regina finished darkly.

"R-Regina. You just need to love him, that's all." Emma smiled weakly, pleading at the brunette to understand. She knew Regina loved Henry somewhere inside her, she just wasn't very good at letting it out.

Regina moved silently over to her desk, giving no indication that she'd heard Emma's words at all. She opened up the ornate silver jewellery box from her desk and pulled out a small trinket.

"No one will ever take my son away from me."

It was meant as a threat. Emma gaped in shock at how the other woman's entire demeanor had changed. Regina stared at her, with hatred in her eyes and triumph in her smirk. The mayor grabbed Emma' hand and pressed a small silver pendant into it.

"Regina, wha-"

"Don't worry, dear. In a few moments you won't even remember you knew me."


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thankyou to everyone for reading. I really appreciate you guys for supporting this story as it's my first Emma/Regina fic. Chapter 8 ends and leads on to canon OUAT and this Epilogue is set sometime after the curse is broken. Sorry it took so long in coming but this one is much longer than previous chaps so hopefully that makes up for it... thanks for reading. I hope you like happy endings.

**Epilogue**

_More than 10 years later..._

Since the curse had been broken, Henry no longer paid much attention to the book anymore. But when he'd awoken this morning he'd bolted into the bedroom with it and shook Emma awake insisting that she read it with him immediately.

Overnight a new story had appeared in Henry's book. It was different from all the other stories though - this one read more like a letter. It was written by hand in a familiar handwriting and an even more familiar voice:

" _...Since leaving Storybrooke that day you've had no recollection that you were ever here. And when Henry brought you back no-one remembered you from 10 years ago... Mary Margaret, Ruby, and the others - their memories of you faded into the haze maintained by the curse._

_When I came over from the other land, knowing there would be no magic here, I brought a few enchanted objects with me. Just in case._

_I put the apple pendant in your palm and made you forget Storybrooke and everyone in it, including me. And Henry._

_I used one of the last pieces of magic I had left to destroy your memories. I separated you from your son (although I didn't know who he was to you at the time). I took from you the knowledge that you came looking for him. I took from you the comfort of knowing he was ok. Those precious memories of time spent with your baby boy are gone. The only way I can give you those memories back is to write down my own memories... for both of you._

_I'm sorry."_

Emma slowly closed the cover of the thick book, scarcely able to believe what she'd just read.

Emma made her way downstairs to the kitchen having sent Henry off to wash up. He'd protested of course excited by what they'd just learned, but she needed him out of the way for a bit. Her footsteps were silent as she padded across the tiles to where the kitchen's only occupant stood with her back to her. The smell of pancakes filled the air.

"You've done some fucked up shit you know that right?"

Shocked as much by the tone as by the language Regina whirled around with a spatula in her hand. She was still dressed in her slate satin pyjamas and robe.

"In light of recent circumstances, I thought you should know the truth," said Regina. "But I can see you don't forgive me."

Emma recognised the return of the rigid posture and imperious tone of the former mayor, but there was something else in the other woman's face which betrayed her. Something like vulnerability and hope.

"Oh I forgive you all right," said Emma fiercely. "I just want to know if this is the _last_ of the fucked up shit I don't know about."

"As a matter of fact it is. Now, do you want blueberry pancakes or plain?" asked Regina.

"Chocolate chip."

Regina rolled her eyes at the request but retrieved the contraband packet from the pantry anyway. Emma hopped onto one of the barstools at the bench where three empty plates were waiting.

"So when does the grovelling and the telling me you love me start?"

Regina flipped the browning pancakes in the skillet before answering. "I do not grovel. As for the second, I don't believe I've admitted to that actually."

Emma smirked. "Not what I heard last night."

To Emma's delight Regina actually reddened and looked like she was about to reply when Henry ran in.

"Happy Mother's Day, Moms!" The boy handed each of them a handmade card before running off saying he was still making their presents in his room.

As Emma looked down at her card an overwhelming amount of emotion filled up inside her. Today was her first real Mother's Day and she was amazed by how wonderful it was to be spending it with her son. She felt so lucky that she'd found her way back to him. Regina too, she realised, must be grateful to be spending today with Henry after almost losing him.

"Uh, Regina? I think they're starting to burn-"

The brunette, who had been absorbed in reading her own card, quickly rescued the pancakes. With deft moves she flopped them onto the stack and placed the plate in front of Emma.

"So I got Wolverine. What'd you get?" asked Emma, referring to the front of Henry's card where he'd drawn one of his favourite comic book characters.

"Spiderman." Regina held up her own card.

"We've got a great kid haven't we?"

Regina smiled happily. "Happy Mother's Day, Emma."

"Happy Mother's Day." Emma tilted her head and couldn't contain her grin. "Oh and Regina? Thanks for the gift. Yours is coming later."

When Regina went back to the second batch of pancakes, Emma surveyed the kitchen and surrounding rooms with new eyes. The place didn't look quite so tidy these days, with Henry's school project spreading across the dining table and Emma's paperwork relegated to the side table along with her red jacket and car keys. Emma knew for a fact that hers and Regina's clothes were still laying on the bedroom floor where they'd fallen the night before. The house didn't look like a museum anymore. It looked lived in.

"So I was here before huh... and I used to be your maid. Did you make me wear a maid's outfit?" Emma said, waggling her eyebrows.

"No. And you didn't do much cleaning either," said Regina in wry amusement. "Same as now."

Emma pretended to be wounded. "So if I was such a crappy maid what'd you keep me around for?"

Regina came over with the choc-chip pancakes and leaned over the bench. She set them down and without taking her eyes off Emma's, placed two fingertips under the blonde's chin and tilted her face up.

"Same reason I keep you around now," Regina said in a low voice. She closed the short distance and stole a slow kiss, causing Emma's eyes to flutter closed.

It took a few seconds but Emma pulled back suddenly.

"Regina Mills! You did not seduce me when I was 18 did you," she said in a mock-scandalised whisper.

"No," said the brunette snippily, grabbing the dishcloth and heading to the sink. "And apparently I'm still waiting for you to grow up."

Regina stood with her back to Emma stacking dishes unnecessarily. She still felt raw and exposed after revealing yet another of her dark and terrible secrets, unsure if revealing the full extent of her past was wise. Emma and Henry now knew everything and it had been a big risk for her to tell them when things had been going so well lately. She felt sure that one day there would be one more secret from her past revealed and they'd find her unforgivable. Everything would come undone and she'd lose them.

Emma had been a threat to Regina both times she'd turned up in Storybrooke, threatening the controlled life the former evil queen had carefully constructed to be safe though it kept her alone. But the irritating and stubborn blonde had wormed her way into her life and she'd had to push her away out of fear that she would never be able to. Emma was an instant hit with Henry at any age, she'd gotten his love so easily.

For Regina, bonding with the baby and becoming his mother had been a struggle and last year when he'd found out he was adopted things had deteriorated so fast she hadn't known how to fix things with her son. When Henry had turned up with his "real mom" she could hardly believe her cruel fate, that Emma was once again standing on her porch ready to turn her life upside down.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Emma, clad in her white tank top and flannel pyjama bottoms, get up from the bench. A few seconds later she felt her come up behind her and thread an arm around her waist even though the brunette stubbornly resisted eye contact.

"Hey, I know what you meant," whispered Emma. "I wanted to stay in Storybrooke. For you and Henry."

"You remember?" Regina spun around in shock at the exact words she'd heard 10 years ago and searched Emma's eyes carefully. "No. That's not possible."

Emma shook her head slowly, she didn't remember but she knew herself. "No, but it's why I'm here now."

"Emma, I-" Regina looked down, struggling to say it.

"It's okay, you know. I understand why you sent me away."

"You do?"

"Yeah, and we should probably talk later, preferably with more glasses of wine and less clothing... but let's just enjoy today?" said Emma, proposing it with a half-shrug and a hopeful look. It was their first Mother's Day together and she wanted them to spend it as a family without getting hung up on all the stuff in their past.

"Henry's ok," said Emma. "So are we."

Regina nodded and smiled, eyes dropping to Emma's lips once more. Sometimes she still couldn't believe Emma's capacity for accepting her and just getting on with their future. They were slowly coming to understand each other, but Emma knew that sometimes Regina got caught up ruminating on the past too much.

"Urgh, you guys are being all mushy again," said Henry, scrunching his face. He hopped up on a stool at the bench and started pouring syrup and butter over his breakfast.

The two of them jumped a little guiltily and Emma reluctantly drew back but not before pressing a quick kiss. Henry might complain about the "mushy" but she knew how thrilled he was to be living with both his mothers and for them to be happy together.

"You know you love it, kid," said Emma, with an immature nah-nah face. "Hey, are you eating my pancakes?"

"Mmph, no?" Henry grinned but he could hardly close his full mouth.

Emma watched him swallow with difficulty and then raced over to pull him off the stool. She tickled him mercilessly causing her son to laugh uncontrollably,

"E-m-ma, sto-op!" he laughed, trying to protect his middle.

"Oh, no you don't kid. You can't escape!" Emma kept up her assault until they collapsed on the floor laughing.

"Mo-o-om, help me," Henry cried out, appealing to his other mother to rescue him.

"Emma, stop, you could hurt him..." admonished Regina in a serious voice. She went to Henry who'd been released immediately and made a show of looking him over and checking on him. Emma made sissy faces at him behind Regina's back.

The brunette winked over her shoulder at Emma surreptitiously, "... and you don't know where he's _really_ ticklish."

"Mo-om, no-oo-oo!" Henry laughed as he was yet again assaulted with pokes to the ribs and he tried to roll away. "No-ot fair!"

Regina eventually let him go and got up off the floor. She grabbed his plate of pancakes and handed to him. "Here. Why don't you go finish your breakfast in the den and watch some cartoons."

Henry ran off full of energy and excitement. Seeing it made Regina happy but partly uneasy that she'd let him have so much sugar.

"We're not gonna be able to calm him down later," warned Emma.

"Actually, that will be Miss Blanchard's problem."

Emma gave Regina a questioning look. "Why?"

"Your mother called this morning while you were still asleep inviting us over for lunch."

"And... we're going?" asked Emma slowly, wondering who had replaced her girlfriend with this charitable woman who was apparently going to spend time willingly with her former arch nemesis on such a special day. Things were much better between them these days (compared to before anyway) and ever since Emma and Regina had gotten together, everyone was making a strained kind of effort to get along.

"Yes," said Regina simply. "We are all going to have a nice lunch and then your parents are taking Henry for the night."

Emma grinned lasciviously and laughed. "Right. I suppose it was _their_ idea to give us the house to ourselves."

"I may have suggested it," said Regina, hiding a smile behind taking a sip of coffee.

After a pause, Emma said a quiet "Thanks".

"It is your mother's first Mother's Day as well, dear," said Regina, knowing what she was thankful for. It meant a lot to Emma to not have to choose between her two families. Seeing Emma happy was a balm for the searing pain of the guilt over what she'd done to the woman she'd come to love and know so well.

Regina narrowed her eyes at Emma. "You did get your mother a gift didn't you?"

"Yes, but," Emma grumbled shiftily. "I didn't know what to get and it's stupid."

"Miss Blanchard teaches fourth grade, dear. You could make her a macaroni necklace and she'd wear it with pride. I'm sure whatever you have will be fine."

Emma rolled her eyes good-naturedly and went to retrieve the gift from under the pile of paperwork she'd left on the side table. She handed Regina a thin pile of photographs with a thick white ribbon tied around them in a bow. Only the top one was visible, an aged photo of a little girl with ratty blonde curls sitting on a playground slide.

Regina smiled inwardly at her girlfriend's nervousness about this. The brunette held a small stack of photographs of Emma as a child and she knew seeing these would mean everything to a mother who had missed out on those moments firsthand.

Emma cleared her throat and mumbled. "I don't have many but I thought she'd like them."

"I love you," Regina let out suddenly. She was surprised at her own admission and then concerned that she'd given away too much.

A smile lit up all over Emma's face at Regina's unexpected declaration. She'd known what they'd both felt for one another for a while but hearing the words returned was something else.

"Aw. You do love me," teased Emma gently, to let the brunette save a bit of face.

"Yes," said Regina, trying to avoid the dopey lovey-dovey eyes on her. "Now go get in the shower or we'll be late."

"Ok," Emma said innocently. "Are you sure you don't want join me, Madam Mayor? To verify that I'm cleaned to your satisfaction?"

Regina bit her lip to hide a grin and returned her coffee cup to the sink. "I guess we're going to be late then."


End file.
